Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies
Legal name: Educational Opportunities Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 591269611
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Mulberry, FL, USA
- Phone
- 1.800.247.0017
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,115,041
- Expenses
- $1,251,679
- Assets
- $8,184,927
- Liabilities
- $383,561
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN L HOPKINS (VICE PRESIDENT)
- LARRY M GOODPASTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- ROBERT E FANNIN (CHAIR): $24,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies expands Biblical knowledge through travel/study programs and archaeological excavations, using the locations where events occurred as an educational “classroom.”. Who Teaches at JCBS How JCBS Can Work with You and Your Institution Why You Should Select JCBS. The Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies began in 1980 with a simple but powerful vision. Dr. Jim Ridgway, founder and president of Educational Opportunities, Inc., a nonprofit Christian travel ministry in Lakeland, Florida, saw how transformative it could be for pastors to walk where Jesus walked. His original goal was to offer pastors immersive travel and study programs to the Holy Land, Jordan, Egypt, Türkiye, Greece, and Rome—places that would breathe new life into their preaching and teaching. These weren’t typical tours but serious academic experiences that combined geography...
What it reported doing in 2024
Lecture programs provide lecturers to pilgrims while in the holy land. The lecturers present a lecture series to various groups who visit the holy land each week, educating the visitors about the holy land.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 81% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -12.3%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.54; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $24K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.